Working to end ‘food apartheid’

In low-income areas of Los Angeles without supermarkets, small stores are learning to profitably sell healthy foods their customers can afford.

By George B. Sánchez-Tello for Capital & Main

The doorway into La Placita Oaxaqueña—a small corner store in Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park neighborhood—frames a view of a red wicker basket overflowing with golden Mexican mangoes next to freshly picked oranges still on their leafy stems. A small sign hanging from the ceiling reads “¡Compra Saludable Aqui!” (Buy Healthy Here!). Next to the card readers at the cashier counter are small plastic containers of red, ripe strawberries flanked by a straw basket of more than a dozen dark green avocados. This presentation is all by design.

Store owner Emilia Lopez shares a receipt with a breakdown of sales so far this year. In a dense, urban neighborhood a mile’s walk from the closest full-service grocery store, Lopez has sold more than $400,000 worth of produce—more than 60% of her annual sales. And it isn’t yet Christmas, the biggest sales day of the year. “Es lo que mas se vende,” Lopez says in Spanish—produce is what sells the most in her small store. 

La Placita Oaxaqueña’s success matters not only to Lopez and her neighborhood, but to businesses and communities across California. Making the sale of fruits and vegetables cost effective to corner markets and convenience stores could unlock access to wholesome food for millions in low-income communities across California and improve health outcomes.